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Crank That (Soulja Boy)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Crank That (Soulja Boy)
| cover = Crank That (Soulja Boy).JPG
| alt = A man is holding a cellphone to his left ear. He is wearing a jacket with a matching beanie headpiece and black sunglasses with white lettering on the lenses that say "Soulja Boy". He is also fanning out mixed denominations of U.S. dollars. He has an expression of shock on his face. Centred to his top left in orange, capital letter graffiti-like font is the title 'Crank That'. Directly below the title in larger blue font is the name 'Soulja Boy'. The name features stars filling the gaps in the 'o' letters.
| border = yes
| type = single
| artist = Soulja Boy Tell'em
| album = souljaboytellem.com
| released =
| recorded =
| studio = Start2Finish (Kansas City, Kansas), Collipark Studio (College Park, Georgia)
| venue =
| genre =
| length =
| label =
| writer = DeAndre Way
| producer = Soulja Boy
| prev_title =
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}}
"'Crank That'" is the debut single by American rapper Soulja Boy Tell'em. It served as the lead single from his debut studio album, 'souljaboytellem.com' (2007) and accompanies the Soulja Boy dance. The song is recognized by its looping steelpan riff. It caused what has been called "the biggest dance fad since the Macarena", with an instructional YouTube video for the dance surpassing 27 million views by early 2008.
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" spent seven weeks at number one on the U.S. 'Billboard' Hot 100 in the fall of 2007, and was the number 21 on the 'Rolling Stone' magazine's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.No byline (December 11, 2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20071214110117/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17601363/the_100_best_songs_of_2007 "The 100 Best Songs of 2007"] 'Rolling Stone'. Retrieved 2007-12-21. The song received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song at the 50th Grammy Awards but lost to Kanye West's song "Good Life". On January 6, 2008, it became the first song ever to sell 3 million digital copies in the US. In 2009 it was named the 23rd most successful song of the 2000s on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 Songs of the Decade. It had sold 5,080,000 downloads in the US by February 2014.
Outside of the United States, "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Production and release
The song was released in the US on May 2, 2007, and globally on June 27.
Dance and music video
Inspired by recent dance crazes that had popularized some rappers from Atlanta, Soulja Boy (DeAndre Way) and his friends invented the dance moves that gave rise to "Crank That": As summarized by 'The Wall Street Journal', "dancers bounce back on their heels, ripple their hands, crank their wrists like motorcyclists, then lunge into a Superman pose".
The music video (directed by Dale Resteghini) begins in the "ColliPark Residence" with Sincostan Ak Flame and J Fresh imitating the Soulja Boy dance. Mr. Collipark takes a keen interest in the children's movements, leading him to contact Soulja Boy in an attempt to sign him up to "Collipark Records". His instinct is confirmed when he notices a number of people performing the dance, en route to meeting with Soulja Boy.
This video premiered on BET's '106 & Park' on August 9, 2007. It features Bow Wow, Omarion, Unk, Baby D, Jibbs, Rich Boy and others doing the signature "Soulja Boy Dance".
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
All-time charts
Certifications
References
Category:2007 debut singles
Category:Soulja Boy songs
Category:Songs written by Soulja Boy
Category:Songs about dancing
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Interscope Records singles
Category:Novelty and fad dances
Category:Snap songs
Category:2007 songs
Category:Internet memes introduced in 2007
Category:Music videos directed by Dale Resteghini
Category:Hip hop dance
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